Did you miss out on the pomp and flair displayed at the Hum Style Awards ’21? Fear not, today we’re bringing you highlights from the show!
Here’s everything that went right and all that went wrong at The Hum Style Awards’21:
The Good
1. Promoting Rising Talent
Hum Style Awards made the right choice by starting off with a performance by Abdullah Siddiqui and Risham Faiz Bhutta. Pakistanis love supporting new talent and there’s no better platform to make your mainstream debut than the Hum Style Awards. Their energy was infectious and it set the perfect tone for the night.
2. Effortlessly Stylish
While this year wasn’t the most stylish year for the Hum Style Awards (we’re going to owe that to the pandemic fatigue) there were, however, several saving graces that we’d like to mention.
Many men were wearing desi outfits at the Hum Style Awards ’21- including Hasnain Lehri and HSY, which was a very welcome change from the tuxedos and suits. Lehri was wearing a short sherwani with khula pajama and looked classically handsome. It was lovely seeing the fashion fraternity rooting for each other since it’s usually always the actors who get the spotlight.
Moreover, Mehreen Syed looked elegant in a white sari. Lastly, it was lovely to see Vaneeza because let’s be honest, there’s no one quite like her and as always, she looked stunning.
3. Engaging The Audience
Ali Zafar & Urwa Hocane were the hosts of the night. They proved to be fairly charismatic, which isn’t surprising since both of them have had plenty of experience over the years hosting red carpet events and shows. Their efforts towards engaging the audience, paired with their witty commentary made for light-hearted fun.
In an impromptu attempt to engage the audience, Ali Zafar went off stage and coaxed Maya Ali and Aima Baig to sing along with him. Aima Baig was game, while Maya Ali was caught unawares, however, in the end, they pulled it off well and it made for a memorable moment for the attendees.
4. HSY & Resham Groove To Punjabi Hits
HSY is a man of many talents. From fashion to acting, he’s done it all. Just when we thought he couldn’t surprise us further, he pulled out another trick from his sleeve. However, this time he wasn’t alone. Joining him on stage was Resham, who was back in the limelight after a very long break and the audience was thrilled!
HSY’s performance with Resham honoured Pakistani cinema and was very well executed. Resham as the coy, Punjabi kurri and HSY as the Sultan Rahi stand-in (minus the gandasa) made for a very entertaining duo at the Hum Style Awards and we’d definitely like to see more of them in the future.
5. Unveling Dum Mastam
The cast of the upcoming film, “Dum Mastam”, put on an entertaining skit and unveiled their poster at The Hum Style Awards’21. The performance by Amar Khan and Imran Ashraf was interesting and now it has us all excited for their upcoming movie!
6. Short & Sweet
We’re grateful that the ceremony wasn’t prolonged unnecessarily and was wrapped up as soon as possible. The management made really good use of time and effectively incorporated the four performances and the announcement of the twenty categories so that nothing was rushed but progressed at a steady pace.
What Could be Better
1. Awkward Performances
There were instances when Ali Zafar made “jokes” about his legal battle with Meesha Shafi which was in bad taste. Sexual harassment isn’t something to be made light of, not even in a self-deprecating way and especially not at the Hum Style Awards.
Moreover, Ali Zafar broke out into song multiple times throughout the show and was part of a few performances, one of which was with Alizeh Shah. Elements from their performance felt like it was inspired by ‘Grease‘, but maybe that’s because of Alizeh Shah’s costume and her new haircut.
However, the pairing of the duo wasn’t the most ideal since it was unfair to both of them. Unfair for Ali Zafar because it was hard for Alizeh Shah to match his energy on stage, and unfair for Alizeh Shah because she’s just starting out and by pairing her with a seasoned showman you’re doing her a disservice because any minor misstep gets amplified ten times.
2. The Poor Outfit Choices
However, having mentioned those who looked great we need to call attention to the really questionable outfit choices as well. What was missing was the appearance of fusion outfits on the red carpet.
Designers and PR companies need to make sure that the outfits their clients are wearing are conducive to the country’s climate – because phew it was so hot, we can only imagine how some people suffered in those synthetic poly-blends.
3. More performances
Aima Baig has proven to be talented and knows how to sing well, however, the abrupt transition from HSY and Resham’s Punjabi number to her flamenco-inspired performance was not smooth and left a lot to be desired.
We can all agree that if they’d just given her the opportunity to perform live, without the choreographed dance routine, things would have progressed far better.
4. The Red Carpet & Overcrowding
It was ironic to note that there was no proper A/C or fan setup for the red carpet, even though GFC fans was one of the sponsors at The Hum Style Awards. This had journalists and celebrities sweating alike and ruined many hours of meticulous makeup application. Sadly, this wasn’t isolated to only the red carpet but even during the event the A/Cs would randomly stop working and more sweaty, suffocating moments would follow.
Furthermore, even though SoPs were being followed and vaccination cards were being checked, inside the event you realised just how overcrowded the event hall was. Yes, we’re grateful that with The Hum Style Awards things are returning back to normal but the guest list and the press presence could have been minimised to ensure safe social distancing since COVID is still a present threat.
What did you like at The Hum Style Awards ’21? Let us know.
